Many Bay Area delegates are gearing up for the start of the Democratic National Convention Sunday. For many, it will be their first time.
Deepa Sharma is just one of 500 delegates from the state, but her emotions are running high as it’s her first convention.
“It’s surreal. I thought this was going to be sort of a sleepy affair,” Sharma said. “I thought, 'OK I will do my duties,' but now it’s just taken on a different dimension.”
Sharma has been preparing for the convention since May, when the delegates were appointed. But this year’s convention is historic.
At the DNC, Bay Area native and Vice President Kamala Harris will take the Chicago stage on Thursday, becoming first the Black and South Asian woman to hold a major party nomination for the presidency.
The move is personal for Sharma, who is also South Asian.
“I didn’t know that I would be in the position to be nominating the first South Asian and the first Black woman to be the Democratic nominee,” she said. “There’s a concerted effort for on Thursday to wear white to give a nod to the historic moment where in.”
The race remains tight with former president Donald Trump, and Sharma said Harris will have to put her vision for undecided voters.
“It’s about time that she communicates and packages all of her record together for the public to know who she really is,” she said.
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Since Harris started her bid for the White House, Democrats from across the country have rallied behind her. It’s provided the party with a new energy, according to Robert Camacho, a delegate since 2008 from Concord.
“This is my fourth convention, but I never felt this fired up going into this convention,” he said.
Her bid has also invigorated donors.
In a campaign visit to the Bay Area last week, the Harris campaign raised $12 million.
